What is a dialect?

A dialect is a form of a language that is spoken in a specific geographic area or by a particular group of people.

It includes unique features such as vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation that differentiate it from the standard or other dialects of the same language.

British and American English both encompass different dialects of the English language, like Cockney, Received Pronunciation, Southern, and Midwestern.

These unique pronunciations across dialects affect the transliteration and transcription of a language.

Translations: Other interesting questions

What is a grapheme?: A “grapheme” is the smallest unit of written language. Graphemes change based on the language used.

In English, graphemes include “ch” and “a.” But in Japanese, graphemes can be “あ,” which represents a syllable, or “山,” which represents a word.

Graphemes are used in transliteration to convert one language to the script of another.

You can plug different graphemes into QuillBot’s free Translator to discover their meaning in another language.
What is a phoneme?: A “phoneme” is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish words from one another. Phonemes don’t carry meaning by themselves but combine to form words.

Changing a single phoneme can result in a different word with a different meaning. For example, in the words “pat” and “bat,” /p/ and /b/ are phonemes.

Phonemes are important in transcription and transliteration. They are also relevant when learning the pronunciation of a new language.

Try QuillBot’s free Translator to translate words into a language you’re learning.
What is a glyph?: A glyph is a visual representation of a character or symbol in written form. It refers to the specific shape or form that a character takes, which can be part of an alphabet, punctuation mark, or any other symbol used in writing.

Some examples of glyphs are “a,” “あ,” and “@.”

Glyphs are important in transliteration and translation. Try QuillBot’s free Translator to translate words from one language to another, and see how the glyphs change.